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The Cairo Criminal Court adjourned until 12 February the trial of 41 current and former police leaders, including Major General Hassan Abdel Rahman, former head of the now disbanded State Security Investigation Services.

The defendants in the case stand accused of burning and destroying SSIS documents in the wake of the 25 January revolution.

The trial was adjourned because some witnesses did not testify before the court on Tuesday, including Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, former Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy and former Interior Minister Mahmoud Wagdy.

The defendants have been charged with ordering their subordinates to deliberately destroy official documents that belonging to a state body they worked for. They are also accused of inciting and assisting with the crime for ordering subordinates to burn and shred the documents.

As public employees, the defendants deliberately harmed Egypt’s national security by destroying documents and archives of different departments and SSIS branches that contained important information, according to the prosecution.